Oct. 24, 2014

Hand Sanitizer May Increase BPA Absorption

About 15 billion pounds of Bisphenol A, or BPA, are produced for commercial use each year. Often found in food and beverage packaging, the chemical—which was originally developed as a form of synthetic estrogen in the 1930s—can also be found in thermal paper receipts. Previous research has found that handling these kinds of receipts can expose people to BPA. This week, a new study in PLOS One, authored by endocrinologist Frederick vom Saal, reports that touching thermal paper after using hand sanitizer can increase the amount of BPA absorbed by the skin 100-fold.